Akaikebaru, south of the Kuma river near the Hitoyoshi-Kuma smart interchange Ryokan (four room types, every room with its own open-air and indoor spring bath)

Ichifuji Ryokan

人吉温泉石野乃湯一富士旅館

Does Ichifuji Ryokan allow tattoos? In a private bath

Private bath only

Ichifuji reopened in 2024 outside Hitoyoshi with no shared bath at all: every room has an indoor tub and an open-air tub of the Ishino-no-yu spring on its own terrace.

Ichifuji publishes no tattoo rule. It has no shared bath: each room has its own indoor bath and open-air bath of natural hot spring water, so a tattooed guest bathes in private for the whole stay.

Illustration of Ichifuji Ryokan in Akaikebaru, south of the Kuma river near the Hitoyoshi-Kuma smart interchange

The bath

Ichifuji has no large bath. Every room bathes on its own spring, which the inn names Ishino-no-yu and describes as a weakly alkaline simple spring and sodium bicarbonate saline spring, colorless and clear, with a soft feel it calls a beauty bath. The inn lists it for sensitivity to cold, skin and burns. White flakes of yunohana (mineral deposit) sometimes float in the water, and the inn says that is a sign of the spring, not dirt.

The four room types all have natural hot spring in both an indoor bath and an open-air bath on the terrace. Wa-Modern rooms (75 square meters, one or two guests) have a cypress-scented indoor bath and a ceramic open-air tub. The one Spacious Indoor Bath room runs a long indoor tub beside a ceramic open-air tub. The Stone Bath rooms (90 square meters, up to five) have an indoor bath and a wide octagonal open-air stone bath on a deck. The premium room Takasho (160 square meters, two guests only) sits on the second floor with its own elevator and has an indoor and an open-air bath. The tubs are yours from check-in at 3 p.m. to check-out at 11 a.m.; there is nothing to reserve and no fee.

The hotel

The inn began in the Taisho era in central Hitoyoshi, lost its building to the July 2020 flood and reopened in 2024 on a new site south of the river under the name Ichifuji Ryokan, with the rooms built as detached-style units. One room type exists as a single room, so the inn asks for early booking. Dinner is a creative kaiseki (a multi-course Japanese meal) by the owner-chef in the private dining room Musubimatsu at 6 or 7 p.m.; breakfast is served in the room for two, in the dining room for three or more. A guests-only lounge pours free coffee and drinks 3 to 10 p.m. and 7 to 11 a.m.

Good to know

Yunohana floats in the tubs: the inn says the white flakes are mineral from the spring, not dirt.
Check-in runs 3 to 7 p.m., and the tubs are yours until 11 a.m. check-out.
The Kamiichimaru bus stop is an 8-minute walk, about 15 minutes by local bus from Hitoyoshi Station.
Free parking for 16 cars, 5 minutes from the Hitoyoshi-Kuma smart interchange.

Getting there

From Kumamoto Sakuramachi bus terminal take the Sanko highway bus down the Kyushu Expressway to Hitoyoshi, about 1 hour 50 minutes by the city's count. From Hitoyoshi Station the inn gives about 12 minutes by car or taxi, or about 15 minutes by local bus to the Kamiichimaru stop and an 8-minute walk from there. Drivers leave the expressway at the Hitoyoshi-Kuma smart interchange, 5 minutes away; the main Hitoyoshi interchange is 15 minutes. The inn publishes no shuttle.

Hitoyoshi STN · Sanko highway bus from Kumamoto Sakuramachi (the JR Hisatsu line from Yatsushiro is cut)
Not walkable: about 12 minutes by car from the station.

Local bus about 15 minutes to the Kamiichimaru stop, then 8 minutes on foot; free parking for 16 cars.

Where it is

Ichifuji Ryokan · map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · open in Google Maps

Shinkansen tickets Seats between any two stations, booked by date.
JR Kyushu Rail Pass from ¥12,000 · 3, 5 or 7 consecutive days Worth it only if the rest of the trip is by train.
Kyushu SunQ Pass Hitoyoshi’s railway has been cut since the 2020 floods, so the way in is the highway bus from Kumamoto. Worth it if you’re riding buses elsewhere in Kyushu too; it covers that bus and the island’s highway lines.
Japan Rail Pass from ¥53,000 · 7, 14 or 21 days For a trip that takes in several regions by Shinkansen and JR lines.

What happens when you arrive

There's no shared bath here, so every bath you use is private.

How we know

Bath layout confirmed, tattoo policy not published Checked on the official site (: the rooms page lists an indoor and an open-air natural hot spring bath in every room type)

Best for: couples who want a room with its own octagonal stone bath and never a shared tub

Four room types: Wa-Modern (75 m2, hinoki indoor bath and ceramic open-air bath, 1 to 2 guests), the one Spacious Indoor Bath room (75 m2), the Stone Bath room (90 m2, octagonal open-air stone bath, 1 to 5 guests) and the premium room Takasho (160 m2, second floor with its own elevator, 2 guests). The inn began in the Taisho era in central Hitoyoshi, was wrecked by the July 2020 flood and reopened in 2024 on a new site under a new name. Check-in 3 p.m. (last 7 p.m.), check-out 11 a.m. Dinner in a private dining room at 6 or 7 p.m. Free parking for 16 cars.

Book your stay

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Others in the same group

More private-bath options in Hitoyoshi

Hitoyoshi Shinjo no YadoNishiki, in the Shinjo Culture Forest east of Hitoyoshi, 5 minutes from the Hitoyoshi-Kuma smart interchange → Hitoyoshi Shinjo Onsen family bathsNishiki, on the grounds of Shinjo no Yado in the Shinjo Culture Forest → Hitoyoshi Onsen NabeyaKokonoka-machi, on the Kuma river in the center of town → Hitoyoshi Onsen Ayu no SatoKokonoka-machi, on the Kuma river facing the castle ruins → Hitoyoshi RyokanKami-Aoi-machi, on the Kuma river by Aoi Aso Shrine → Yoshino RyokanKami-Aoi-machi, beside Aoi Aso Shrine →

All Hitoyoshi listings →